Review of Si Clauses

Si clauses are the equivalent to if clauses in English. These clauses indicate possibilities, which
may or may not become a reality. They can refer to the past, present and future. These
conditional sentences have two parts: the condition, or si clause, and the main/result clause
which tells you what will happen if the condition of the si clause is met.
The tense of the ending clause depends on the tense of the si clause:
si + present (prsent)
si clause

result clause

si + present

present or future

The first type of si clause we will look at is when the consequence is seen as possible. Below is
some dialogue where the si clause is used in present and in the future. This is shown by the si
clause being placed before the verb.
Anna est en train de lire un petit quizz sur la
personnalit et l'amour dans un magazine.
Anna: Si tu veux, tu peux rpondre aux
questions, Arnold.
Arnold: D'accord. Mais si tu peux, choisis les
questions les plus croustillantes!
Anna: Entendu. Premire question: Qu'est-ce
que vous ferez demain ... si vous trouvez
l'amour de votre vie?
Arnold: Si je rencontre l'amour de ma vie, je
l'pouserai, bien sr!

Anna is reading a little quiz about personality

and love in a magazine.
Anna: If you want, you can answer the
questions, Arnold.
Arnold: OK, but choose the juiciest questions
if you can!
Anna: OK. First question: What will you do
tomorrow ... if you find the love of your life?
Arnold: If I meet the love of my life, I will
marry her, of course!

**This was pretty simple to remember because it is the equivalent to the English word if. The
only part I found somewhat difficult was where to place the si. I could remember that it went
before the verb but in instances where the usual je, tu, il, elle, nous, vous, ils, elles, was not used
I would get confused and come times put the si after the verb. This made the sentence difficult to
understand if it could be understood at all.
si + imperfect (imparfait)
si clause

result clause

si + imperfect

conditional

This type of si clause is contrary to the present version. This is because the consequence is seen
as impossible.
Le quiz continue.
Anna: Si vous tiez une voiture, que seriezvous?
Arnold: Si j'tais une voiture, je serais la
lgendaire Mustang.
Anna: Si vous tiez un fruit, lequel
choisiriez-vous?
Arnold: Si j'tais un fruit, je choisirais le
raisin pour pouvoir me transformer en vin.
Anna: Si vous tiez une femme, que feriezvous?
Arnold: Si j'tais une femme, je ne lirais pas
les quiz dans les magazines.

The quiz continues.

If you were a car, what would you be?
Arnold: If I were a car, I would be the
legendary Mustang.
Anna: If you were a fruit, which one would
you choose?
Arnold: If I were a fruit, I would choose
grapes, so that I could be transformed into
wine.
Anna: If you were a woman, what would you
do?
Arnold: If I were a woman, I would not read
the quizzes in magazines.

For the most part this is a fairly easy lesson to learn. But in order to understand the si clause in
the imperfect you need to know the imperfect tense of French. I struggled with this a lot this
semester because I am not very good at memorizing the endings for words along with the
exemptions and rules for the imperfect tense. However, I am certain that if you understand the
imperfect tense that adding the si clause cannot be very difficult.